Stanley Goldberg, son of Joe and Eva Goldberg, was born on March 5, 1939, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He died at his home in New York City following a long illness on April 7.
Stanley is survived by his husband, Richard Daniels; a brother, Jay Goldberg and his spouse Judy; and many nieces, nephews and extended family who adored him. Graveside services were held on April 10 at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
Stanley had a lifetime engagement with the camera and technology. At the age of 13, his Uncle Babe introduced him to the magic of photography. It was his mode of creative expression forever after. But let it be known that Stanley Goldberg was playing with solar cells in grade school in the ‘40s. Even while pursuing numerous commercial applications of photography, in parallel he also pursued an artistic practice.
In 1960, he received a World Student Fund Fellowship to the Technische Hochschule in Hanover, Germany, where he began to explore photography in great depth. Upon returning to the U.S., he studied creative photography with the renowned photographer and educator Minor White at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For many years, Stanley aided White with his educational workshops.
In 1970, Stanley moved to New York City and pioneered multi-image set projections for the Broadway productions of “The Me Nobody Knows” (first in an off-Broadway run) and “Over Here!” with the Andrews sisters. He then built a career leading Stanley Goldberg Associates and then Wonderplay, a technology and multimedia company. He specialized in the integration of new technology, art and audio-visual media with an emphasis on a humanistic approach. His clients included MTV, AT&T, Federal Express, The Knoxville World’s Fair, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, among others. Stanley is also the author of the children’s book “The Adventures of Stanley Kane.”
After years of producing multimedia presentations and installations, in 1998, Goldberg renewed his creative photographic practice using digital photography. Major subjects include Central Park, street fairs, flea markets and his neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was represented by Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
Of the qualities he possessed, perhaps some of his friends put it best:
“He influenced me deeply. His curiosity and willingness to take chances…. A brave soul with a boundless appetite for beauty,” Jack Ox said.
“One of the people I felt lucky to know in life – smart, creative. kind, gentle, and a very generous spirit,” Jane Gross said.
“We met at Minor White’s graduate course. Stan was a creative spirit, and knowing him enriched my life,” Ross Harris said.
“He left joy wherever he went,” Sherry Leedy said.
Always with a twinkle in his eye and a joke or laugh at the ready, this charming soul who lit up every room he was ever in will be deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, if one is so inclined, gifts might be made in his memory to SAGE - Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ+ Elders (sageusa.org).
Online condolences for the family may be left at louismemorialchapel.com.